April 25, 2009

This week’s top story seems to be that Barbara Walters, Larry King, and most of the free world have joined TWITTER.

It’s amazing how quickly TWITTER, the social network, has become part of the world’s collective consciousness. The first time I heard about it was at the end of the Presidential campaign when Senator John McCain sent telegrams and used land lines to keep in touch with his staff, while Senator Barack Obama used cell phones and TWITTER to stay in touch with his…with the whole world following his every “Tweet”.

What impresses me most about the service is the message or “Tweet” is limited to 140 characters (about six lines), which forces the user to communicate more concisely. Although I had a problem with TWITTER initially, everything has been resolved. Even though I like the idea of communicating quickly, I haven’t become an active member because I’ve never been a “follower” and I don’t like the idea of being “followed” around by anyone.

As I was discussing my dilemma with my friend Art Munson at Over 50 Music, he suggested that I look into Face Book, which presented another problem. I’ve always seen Facebook as one of the places where you can delude yourself into thinking that you’re popular, but I found that it is one of the best places to make a reconnection.

Two months ago I decided I wanted to include a paragraph or two from people in my past to use in my forthcoming book “I Did It For A Song”, and through e-mails and Google I was able to locate 30 people. Exactly one month ago I joined Facebook and found 300 PEOPLE who I’ve since added as “friends”! Now with the recent addition of TWITTER to its pages I can follow everyone I know, everywhere they go, and read every message they send and/ or receive. DAMN, isn’t technology wonderful?

You have to excuse me, but it’s time to go on Facebook to check on all my pals. I wonder if PeterGreenberg’s back from Shanghai, mmm, Gary Stromberg says he saw a report on Fox news how bacon cures hangovers, Unsteady Freddy saw the Association perform, Bruce Garfield is up before the sun in London, Patti LaBelle is in the studio with Alicia Keys…..Looks like it’s gonna’ be a long night!

February 11, 2009

I hear the Post Office is going to charge for every e-mail sent! That might bring in billions of dollars, but at what expense? The internet is one of the few places where you can become an entrepreneur at a little or no cost and communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world for free!

If the bill that has been proposed to congress passes, many of our lives could change dramatically! What’s next…a tax to text? A tariff to TWITTER? Believing that “A Tweet Is Worth A 1000 Words”…I say “HELL NO!”

What do you think about this? You can leave your comments at the end of my article…MORE!

Summary of eRumor:
A widely distributed email warns that legislation has been introduced in congress to add a surcharge to email. Congressional “Bill 602P” would add a 5 cents per email tax in order to make up for millions of dollars being lost by the Postal Service because of people using email to correspond instead of letters. The email makes reference to a recent publicity campaign by the Postal Service called “There is Nothing Like a Letter” and includes a quote from Congressman Tony Schnell. It urges that Internet users contact their representatives in congress to oppose the bill.

The Truth:TruthOrFiction.com has designated this as not just a rumor, but a hoax, an intentional email of misinformation. Since it isn’t benefiting or harming anyone in particular, it is probably a prank. According to both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Postal Service, no such proposal has been planned or submitted. There has never been a campaign by the Postal Service with the theme, “There’s Nothing Like a Letter.” According to the House Of Representatives, there is a bill with the number “HR 602,” but it has nothing to do with taxing emails. It is about long term health care insurance. Most notably, the Congressman mentioned in the email, Congressman Tony Schnell, is a fabrication. There is no such person in Congress. This appears to be a U.S. version of a similar hoax in Canada in 1999.

This is a cousin to a similar eRumor that the Federal Communications Commission is going to issue a tax on Internet Access, which is also untrue.

February 9, 2009

President Obama must be the busiest man in the world, which is why he and his people are on Twitter. They are not only able to communicate succinctly with each other in micro-seconds, but they’re also able to stay in touch with the world at large.

This is the first administration to have so much technology in its hands, which equates to power. Let’s pray that it’ll be used for good.

Unfortunately, so much speed in communication makes us want to respond quickly, but sometimes we have to have to slow down analyze, and then make our moves. In the meantime, remember “A Tweet Is Worth A Thousand Words!”

January 26, 2009

With new methods of communication emerging everyday, if I had to pick one system that will eventually beat out all the others, that system would be TWITTER!

A tweet is a brief message sent by one member of the social network TWITTER, to another member that consists of only 140 characters, including a link to more information.

This naturally appeals to me, since I am a songwriter and sometime commercial copy writer, used to getting my message across in as few words as possible.

I was originally put off when I heard it was used by “twits” to keep each other informed of their inane activities like going to the grocery store or filling up their gas tanks. Then I heard that Robert Scoble, the #1 blogger in the US, now prefers to TWITTER, sending sometimes 50 tweets a day, and I knew it was time for me to investigate.

I Googled the company to find out more about their service, and was required to give my e-mail address, and other seemingly innocuous information, before I saw a button that said, “Send Out My Invitations”

Suddenly I realized this might be a scam, and I just closed the window!

Less than an hour later, I started getting tweets from people I knew who seemed happy that I’m now on TWITTER.

That’s when I suspected TWITTER had somehow tricked me into joining their network, and appropriated names from one of my address books, inviting them to join their site as my “Friend”.

In the past few days, I’ve seen half a dozen newscasters tell their viewers to send their comments by e-mail, text message or by TWITTER. So before the company gets any bigger, I want to apologize for calling you names, and thank you for creating a service that is revolutionizing communication.